A US teenager who took a photo of his mum’s amateur painting has inadvertently seeded an internet craze.

His mother Cindi Decker came home from an art class with a painting of an egret that she thought wasn’t that impressive. So, her son Matthew took a pic and posted it on social media site Reddit, to gauge the response. 

Little did he know that his actions would go viral and his mother would become an internet sensation.

Source: Reddit

More than 24,000 Reddit users ‘upvoted’ it, which thrilled mother and son. But what happened next was, as www.news.com.au reported – “brilliant”.

Next day, Swedish artist Kristoffer Zetterstrand, saw the post and decided to paint Mrs Decker holding her painting, posting it to Reddit with the caption “I painted somebody’s mum.”

Source: Reddit

The day after, Canadian journalism student Leila Amer posted a picture of Mr Zetterstrand holding his painting of Mrs Decker with her painting. “I painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mum,” wrote Ms Amer.

Source: Reddit

Then artist Traci Sethre got in on the action

Source: Reddit

And Travis Simpson stayed up all night to paint his portrait titled: “When it sinks in that I stayed up most of the night to paint a meme for internet points …”

Source: Reddit

Mr Zetterstand, who has received thousands of messages from people all over the globe and estimates that millions of people have seen his painting, called the chain “hilarious and weird”.

“Many have contacted me and told me that it made them genuinely happy,” he told the Washington Post. “It’s touching, really.”

Mrs Decker has been blown away by the response:

“I was in fear I was going to read a lot of hateful comments,” she wrote under the handle imthemomwhopaints.

“You all have proven me so wrong. I’m assuming most of you could be my kids, and y’all get a bad rap in this world. You all are compassionate, caring, and a ton of fun! Thanks for uplifting me! You all have inspired me instead.”

What do you think of this meme chain?